One inning after punching Bill Madlock in the face and sparking the bench-clearing brawl, Cardinals catcher Ted Simmons capped off his four-RBI day owith a walk-off single to give St. Louis a 6-5 win and a 1 ½-game lead in the National League East Division.

Simmons’ busy day was baseball’s equivalent of a Gordie Howe hat trick, if such a thing existed.

After splitting their first two games against the Cubs at Busch Stadium, the Cardinals entered the series finale with a ½-game lead over the Pirates in the NL East. Bob Gibson, now 38 and in his second-to-last season, took the mound for the Cardinals with a 10-12 record and a 3.82 ERA, while 26-year-old Steve Stone climbed the hill for the Cubs with an 8-5 record and 4.15 ERA.

Both pitchers allowed runs in the opening frame. Jose Cardenal drove in a run with an RBI single to left, and the Cubs loaded the bases before Gibson got Steve Swisher to ground out and end the inning.

In the bottom of the first, Stone retired the first two batters he faced before Reggie Smith doubled and Simmons homered over the right-field wall to give St. Louis a 2-1 lead. Two innings later, Smith tripled to right field to score Brock. Simmons followed with a sacrifice fly – and his third RBI of the game – to give the Cardinals a 4-1 lead.

The Cubs answered in the top of the sixth. With the bases loaded and one out, Rick Monday drove in two with a single to right field. A misplayed ground ball brought home the tying run and Madlock added a sacrifice fly to give the Cubs a 5-4 lead.

Chicago’s advantage was short-lived, as Joe Torre scored the tying run on a fielder’s choice in the bottom of the sixth.

After seven innings of work, Gibson left the game with no decision and Al Hrabosky took the mound. He retired the Cubs in order in the eighth, though it required exceptional plays by McBride, Brock, and second baseman Tom Sizemore.

“I was struggling out there,” Hrabosky said.[1]

In the bottom half of the inning, home-plate umpire Shag Crawford drew the Cardinals’ ire with a controversial call that helped to snuff a potential rally. Torre led off with a single and was replaced by pinch runner Larry Herndon. Batting next, McBride attempted to lay down a bunt, but Dave LaRoche’s inside fastball kept sailing in on the lefthanded-hitting McBride and hit him on the left hand, leaving him with a gash on his forefinger that required four stitches.[2]

When the ball bounced into fair territory, Cubs catcher Steve Swisher threw to second to start a double play. McBride immediately argued that he had been hit by the pitch. Crawford insisted that the ball had also hit McBride’s bat.

“The ball was a fairly batted, bunted ball,” Crawford said after the game. “I don’t care whether his finger is bloody or cut or whatever.”[3]

Both McBride and Torre – who let his feelings be known from the dugout – were ejected.

“I really don’t understand why he couldn’t change his decision with a split hand in front of him and blood running all over the place,” Brock said.[4]

Cardinals-Cubs brawl

As a result, tensions already were high when things got weird in the ninth. Hrabosky was well known for his pre-pitch routine, which often included stomping around the mound, turning his back to the hitter, and psyching himself up before taking the mound to pitch. According to the Chicago Tribune, the Cubs planned to counter Hrabosky by taking their own time once the “Mad Hungarian” got ready to pitch.[5]

When Hrabosky slammed the ball into his glove and stalked to the mound to face Madlock, the Cubs’ first hitter of the ninth inning, the rookie third baseman backed out of the box. When he returned, Hrabosky went through his routine again, and Madlock once again stepped out. Finally, Madlock turned away and went back to the on-deck circle to grab pine tar for his bat. At this point, Crawford was tired of the back-and-forth.

“I said, ‘Bill, get back here,’” Crawford related. “I thought maybe he didn’t hear me because of the crowd noise and so I went after him and said it again.”[6]

When Madlock again ignored Crawford’s instructions, the umpire returned to the plate and signaled for Hrabosky to begin pitching. According to rule 6.02(c): “If the batter refuses to take his position in the batter’s box during his time at bat, the umpire shall order to the pitcher to pitch, and shall call ‘Strike’ on each such pitch. The batter may take his proper position after any such pitch, and the regular ball and strike count shall continue, but if he does not take his proper position before three strikes are called, he shall be declared out.”

As Madlock rushed back to the plate, Crawford called Hrabosky’s first pitch a strike. By the time Hrabosky threw his second pitch, Cardenal and Cubs manager Jim Marshall had both arrived at the plate, and Hrabosky nearly hit Marshall. Feeling crowded, Simmons shoved Marshall out of the way, then turned to Madlock and asked, “What are you looking at?”[7]

Madlock responded with a profane two-word answer and was immediately punched in the jaw.

“I must have hit him pretty good,” Simmons said. “I cut my knuckles.”[8]

Both teams raced onto the field.

“I did a 9.2(-second) hundred from the bullpen,” Cardinals reliever Mike Garman said.[9]

Cubs first baseman Andre Thornton was the first to reach the scene, tackling Simmons and driving him to the ground.

“I had to get Simmons because he took a free shot at Billy,” Thornton said afterwards with the pinky finger on his left hand in a split.[10] It was unclear how he injured his finger, although players reported that after Thornton tackled Simmons, Cardinals pitcher Lynn McGlothen “blindsided him” before Chicago’s Jim Tyrone, in turn, punched McGlothen and sent him to the ground.[11]

Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst said he tried to pull McGlothen away from two Cubs.

“I couldn’t budge the big guy – he wore me out,” Schoendienst said.[12]

The fight lasted two or three minutes and no one was seriously injured. Sizemore’s leg was scratched and Chicago’s Ray Burris was spiked. Ken Reitz’s shoulder was dislocated, but he noted that it had popped out of place multiple times in his career.

“It goes away in a day,” he said.[13]

McBride, who was in the clubhouse having his finger treated following his eighth-inning incident, ran onto the field when he realized what was happening.

“I’m running out there and everybody starts asking me, ‘How’s your finger?’” McBride said. “I said, ‘Hey, this is supposed to be a fight!’”[14]

Players and coaches from both sides were quick to break up the fisticuffs, and Sizemore expressed his appreciation for Chicago’s Don Kessinger and Monday.

“They said, ‘You’ve got too much to lose – let’s break this up,’” Sizemore said. “That’s real class. They’re veterans and they know we have a chance to win a lot of money (in the pennant race).”[15]

Incredibly, Marshall was the only one to get the boot. When the Cubs’ manager realized no one was going to be ejected, he asked Crawford, “Don’t you care about the players?”

“No, I don’t care about the players – they don’t care about me!” answered Crawford.

“That’s when I started cussin’,” Marshall said.[16]

“Marshall didn’t like my statement, but I don’t think players should be thrown out for fighting,” said Crawford, who had been aboard a U.S. destroyer that was hit by a Japanese kamikaze plane in World War II.[17]

When the game resumed, Hrabosky felt refocused. He struck out Madlock, got Cardenal to fly out to Simmons, then struck out Dave LaRoche.

“It was the greatest thing that could have happened for me,” Hrabosky said of the brawl. “It was a personal challenge. It really psyched me up. It was just what the doctor ordered.”[18]

With runners on first and second and two outs, Simmons ended the game in the bottom of the ninth, punching the ball back up the middle to score Brock from second base and give the Cardinals a 6-5 win.

The victory delighted Pat Dean, Dizzy Dean’s widow. She was in the audience after Dizzy’s number 17 was retired in a pregame ceremony.

“They must have done this for Diz,” she said. “It looked like the old Gas House Gang.”[19]

Enjoy this post? Sign up below and get Cardinals history delivered directly to your inbox!

[1] Dick Kaegel, “Blows By Simmons Send Cubs Reeling,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 23, 1974.

[2] Dick Kaegel, “Blows By Simmons Send Cubs Reeling,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 23, 1974.

[3] Dick Kaegel, “Blows By Simmons Send Cubs Reeling,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 23, 1974.

[4] Dick Kaegel, “Blows By Simmons Send Cubs Reeling,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 23, 1974.

[5] Richard Dozer, “Cards give Cubs ‘gas’ in 6-5 victory,” Chicago Tribune, September 23, 1974.

[6] Dick Kaegel, “Blows By Simmons Send Cubs Reeling,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 23, 1974.

[7] Dick Kaegel, “Blows By Simmons Send Cubs Reeling,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 23, 1974.

[8] Dick Kaegel, “Blows By Simmons Send Cubs Reeling,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 23, 1974.

[9] Dick Kaegel, “Blows By Simmons Send Cubs Reeling,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 23, 1974.

[10] Richard Dozer, “Cards give Cubs ‘gas’ in 6-5 victory,” Chicago Tribune, September 23, 1974.

[11] Richard Dozer, “Cards give Cubs ‘gas’ in 6-5 victory,” Chicago Tribune, September 23, 1974.

[12] Dick Kaegel, “Birds Avoided Fight Injuries,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 23, 1974.

[13] Dick Kaegel, “Birds Avoided Fight Injuries,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 23, 1974.

[14] Dick Kaegel, “Birds Avoided Fight Injuries,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 23, 1974.

[15] Dick Kaegel, “Birds Avoided Fight Injuries,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 23, 1974.

[16] Dick Kaegel, “Blows By Simmons Send Cubs Reeling,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 23, 1974.

[17] Richard Dozer, “Cards give Cubs ‘gas’ in 6-5 victory,” Chicago Tribune, September 23, 1974.

[18] Dick Kaegel, “Blows By Simmons Send Cubs Reeling,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 23, 1974.

[19] Dick Kaegel, “Blows By Simmons Send Cubs Reeling,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 23, 1974.

The post The 1974 Cardinals-Cubs brawl sparked by Simmons, Hrabosky first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

“I talk to the gypsy war gods,” he explained afterward. “I work myself into a controlled rage.”[1]

On May 9, 1977, Hrabosky and his gypsy war gods responded, striking out George Foster, Johnny Bench, and Bob Bailey to escape the ninth inning unscathed. After a game-saving play at the plate stopped the Reds in the top of the 10^th, Ted Simmons homered in the bottom of the inning to give Hrabosky and the Cardinals a 6-5 win.

“These 1977 Cardinals are shaking Busch Stadium like no St. Louis baseball team has done in perhaps a decade,” wrote Dick Kaegel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “The latest shock wave hit the Cincinnati Reds like a runaway mine train last night. It was a classic thriller, baseball at its spine-tingling best.”[2]

Ten years earlier, the Cardinals selected Hrabosky out of Fullerton (Calif.) College with their first-round pick (19^th overall) in the 1969 draft. The lefthander reached Double-A that season, and the following year he made his major-league debut, throwing a shutout inning in a loss to the Padres. Three days later, he earned his first major-league win, entering the game in the 16^th inning and throwing two scoreless innings in a 5-3 win over the Cubs.

In 1973, Hrabosky became a regular in the Cardinals’ bullpen and in 1974 he placed fifth in the Cy Young Award voting, going 8-1 with a 2.95 ERA over 88 1/3 innings. The following year he was even better, placing third in the Cy Young and eighth in the National League MVP vote with a 13-3 record, 1.66 ERA, and league-leading 22 saves.

Heading into the Cardinals’ May 9, 1977, game against the defending World Series champion Reds, Hrabosky had three saves and a 2.35 ERA in 13 1/3 innings. Earlier that season, Hrabosky had been forced to shave his beard and Fu Manchu mustache to adhere to new manager Vern Rapp’s edict that all Cardinals players be clean-shaven. As both Rapp and the Reds soon discovered, however, that didn’t mean that the Mad Hungarian had been tamed.

The Monday night game was being broadcast nationally and matched Cincinnati’s Woodie Fryman, a 37-year-old veteran lefthander and two-time all-star, against 27-year-old Bob Forsch, who won 15 games in 1975 but was looking to rebound from a tough 1976 campaign.

The two teams traded runs in the early innings as Cardinals right fielder Hector Cruz hit an RBI single in the first and Reds right fielder Ken Griffey answered with an RBI single of his own in the third.

In the bottom of the third, the Cardinals pushed two more runs across as Ted Simmons smacked an RBI double and Keith Hernandez scored Simmons with a single to left.

Forsch maintained the 3-1 lead until the sixth. After Forsch struck out George Foster to open the inning, Johnny Bench hit a solo home run and Cesar Geronimo tripled. Dave Concepcion scored Geronimo with an RBI single, and after Pedro Borbon laid down a sacrifice bunt, Pete Rose doubled to left field to score Concepcion and give the Reds a 4-3 lead.

Rapp replaced Forsch with Buddy Schultz, and Griffey greeted the lefthanded reliever with a single to right field that scored Rose and extended the Reds’ lead to 5-3.

Lou Brock led off the bottom of the seventh with a double to left field, then scored on a single by Tony Scott. One inning later, Keith Hernandez tied the game with a 400-foot leadoff home run[3] on the first pitch offered by reliever Rawly Eastwick.

Al Hrabosky Enters the Game

To pitch the ninth, Rapp turned to Hrabosky. It immediately became an adventure.

Griffey opened the inning with a single to left. Hrabosky walked Morgan, and Dan Driessen followed with a bunt single that loaded the bases.

“I thought with Foster and Bench coming up, there was no way,” Hernandez said. “I thought they’d at least get a fly ball and get a run in.”[4]

Between each pitch, Hrabosky turned his back to the plate. Then, slamming the ball into his glove, he stomped to the mound and went into his windup. Relying on the fastball, he struck out Foster, then Bench.

With two outs, Reds manager Sparky Anderson called on Bob Bailey, who hits .370 as a pinch-hitter the previous year, to bat for the lefthanded-hitting Geronimo. It didn’t make a difference. Hrabosky struck out Bailey to end the inning.

“It was unbelievable,” Brock said. “It was like seeing an instant replay over, over, and over. It was slugger against fastball pitcher … one-on-one and may the best man win.”[5]

“I’ve never seen anybody pitch that way in all my life,” Hernandez said. “I was so excited, I was watching Al more than the batter. I was completely in awe.”[6]

The Busch Stadium crowd was equally impressed, rewarding Hrabosky with a standing ovation as the inning ended.[7]

“It was the most incredible thing I’ve seen in my life,” Simmons said. “It was dark and all of a sudden, he groped around until he found the light switch and turned it on. … Every pitch was a fastball. They knew it was coming – they had to.”[8]

Things weren’t much easier for Hrabosky in the 10^th. After he retired the first two hitters, pinch-hitter Ray Knight singled to bring up Griffey, who already had three hits for the day. Griffey collected his fourth, doubling off the right-field wall, but Cardinals right fielder Mike Anderson relayed the ball to second baseman Don Kessinger, who in turn threw out Knight at the plate.

“When I got it and threw it to Kessinger, I saw the runner was just one step past third and I said, ‘No way he’s gonna score,’” Anderson said.

“Andy played it perfect,” said Kessinger. “He gave me a good, high relay throw where I could handle it. I knew if I could make a good throw, we’d get him.”[9]

Just a few pitches later, Simmons ended the game with his bat. With reliever Dale Murray pitching, Simmons homered to right field to give the Cardinals a 6-5 win. It was just the third home run Murray had allowed in 1,307 opposing at-bats.[10]

“I feel great about my home run, but the pitching performance Al gave was one of the finest I’ve ever seen in my life,” Simmons said. “Bench, Foster, and Bailey, three of the best fastball hitters in the game, and Al just blew ‘em away from the plate with the bases loaded.”[11]

“You couldn’t have put it on a piece of paper and designed it any better than that,” Simmons said.[12]

“It was an unbelievable game,” Kessinger said. “There was a little bit of everything. It’d be a great game even if you lose. But when you win, it’s even better.”[13]

With the win, the Cardinals improved to 17-9 on the young season while the Reds fell to 10-16 with their fifth consecutive loss.

“It’s something you’ve got to do if you’re going to win a pennant – come from behind,” Hernandez said. “It’s something Cincinnati has been doing for the last three or four years.”[14]

St. Louis finished the game with 14 hits, including two apiece from Garry Templeton, Scott, Cruz, Simmons, Hernandez, and Kessinger.

“I like ‘em – they’re aggressive,” Anderson said. “They’re gonna give the Pirates all they can handle this year, I’ll tell you that.”[15]

Despite their strong start, the Cardinals finished the year just 83-79, 18 games behind the National League champion Phillies and 13 games behind the second-place Pirates.

The 1977 campaign proved to be a contentious one for Hrabosky. Later that May, Rapp suspended Hrabosky for “sheer insubordination.” The Post-Dispatch referred to the suspension as “the culmination of a long series of disagreements” between Hrabosky and Rapp.[16]

Hrabosky was reinstated a few days later and finished the year with just 10 saves and a 4.38 ERA over 86 1/3 innings. It proved to be his final season with the Cardinals, as he was traded to the Royals for Mark Littell and Buck Martinez that December. In eight seasons in St. Louis, Hrabosky went 40-20 with a 2.93 ERA and 59 saves.

Hrabosky pitched two seasons in Kansas City, making the only postseason appearances of his career in 1978, then played his final three seasons in Atlanta. Over a 13-year major league career, he posted a 3.10 ERA and 97 saves.

Enjoy this post? Sign up below and get Cardinals history delivered directly to your inbox!

[1] Dick Kaegel, “Cardinals, Simmons Jolt The Reds,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 10, 1977.

[2] Dick Kaegel, “Cardinals, Simmons Jolt The Reds,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 10, 1977.

[3] Bob Hertzel “Baseball’s Day … Reds Make It 5 Straight,” Cincinnati Enquirer, May 10, 1977.

[4] Dick Kaegel, “Cardinals, Simmons Jolt The Reds,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 10, 1977.

[5] Earl Lawson, “Cards, ‘Gypsy War God’ Beat Reds, 6-5,” Cincinnati Post, May 10, 1977.

[6] Dick Kaegel, “Cardinals, Simmons Jolt The Reds,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 10, 1977.

[7] Earl Lawson, “Cards, ‘Gypsy War God’ Beat Reds, 6-5,” Cincinnati Post, May 10, 1977.

[8] Dick Kaegel, “Cardinals, Simmons Jolt The Reds,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 10, 1977.

[9] Dick Kaegel, “Cardinals, Simmons Jolt The Reds,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 10, 1977.

[10] Dick Kaegel, “1307^th Batter Doomed Murray,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 10, 1977.

[11] Earl Lawson, “Cards, ‘Gypsy War God’ Beat Reds, 6-5,” Cincinnati Post, May 10, 1977.

[12] Dick Kaegel, “Cardinals, Simmons Jolt The Reds,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 10, 1977.

[13] Dick Kaegel, “Cardinals, Simmons Jolt The Reds,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 10, 1977.

[14] Dick Kaegel, “Cardinals, Simmons Jolt The Reds,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 10, 1977.

[15] Dick Kaegel, “Cardinals, Simmons Jolt The Reds,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 10, 1977.

[16] Neal Russo, “Rapp Suspends Hrabosky For Insubordination,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 22, 1977.

The post Al Hrabosky and the gypsy war gods stifle Reds: May 9, 1977 first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

“I expect you to be one of the five best catchers in the league this year,” Herzog replied. “Then next year, I expect you to be one of the two best, and the third year, I expect you to be the best catcher in baseball.”^[1]

Porter may well have done exactly that. In his first season in Kansas City, he hit .275 with 16 homers and 60 RBIs. He followed that season by hitting .265 with 18 homers and 78 RBIs, earning the second all-star appearance of his career and placing 10^th in the MVP voting. In 1979, he enjoyed the best season of his career, batting .291 with 20 homers and 112 RBIs. His 121 walks that season led the league, helping him post a .421 on-base percentage.

Porter credited Herzog for helping him become one of the game’s best backstops.

“Whenever I would get discouraged and start feeling like I just didn’t belong in the major leagues, Whitey was always there to lift my spirits,” Porter said. “He would tell me, ‘You’re my catcher. You’ll come back and you’ll be all right tomorrow,’ and just the way he said it made me believe in myself.”^[2]

Just as Porter was reaching new heights in his career, it all came crashing down. After the 1979 season, he received a phone call from a friend to tell him that the Royals had just fired Herzog. Porter slammed the phone down in frustration.

“I’ll play out my option in 1980 and go wherever Whitey is managing,” he told himself.^[3]

The following spring, Porter admitted to abusing drugs and alcohol and checked into rehab. He missed the beginning of the 1980 season, but returned in time to play in 118 games, though his numbers were the worst of his Kansas City tenure: a .249 batting average, seven home runs, and 51 RBIs.

Despite his reaction to the news of Herzog’s firing, Porter wanted to remain in Kansas City. Mike McKenzie of the Kansas City Times reported that to stay with the Royals, Porter probably would have had to accept roughly one-third the money that Herzog and the Cardinals were offering.

“The Royals likely would have talked in the $1.2 million range for a three-year term,” he wrote.^[4]

On December 7, 1980, the Cardinals announced that they had reached an agreement with Porter. It was reported that the five-year deal would make Porter the highest-paid catcher in baseball, supplanting the Cardinals’ current catcher, Ted Simmons, who made approximately $630,000 a year.^[5]

Despite their friendship, Herzog had pushed Porter and his agent, Frank Knisley, more quickly than Porter would have liked. The catcher was on a honeymoon cruise in the Caribbean when Herzog offered $3.5 million for five years.[6] There was a catch, however: if Herzog didn’t get an answer before the winter meetings, the contract wouldn’t still be there when Porter returned.

“I wasn’t going to leave my offer out there while they shopped,” Herzog said. “I knew Darrell was out to sea, but I’ve been on those cruises so I knew he could be reached too. We came to terms Friday, and I wanted an answer before the meetings or I’d pull out, take our offer off the board.”^[7]

Knisley reached Porter via trans-Atlantic telephone, sharing the good news first, then informing Porter of the deadline. As Porter recounted the conversation in his book, Snap Me Perfect:

Whitey, aware that the Royals were pussyfooting, was trying to force a deal. As much as I loved the guy and could picture myself working under him again, I was angry over the strategy and the fact that they thought none of this could possibly wait until I returned from my honeymoon.

“Frank,” I said, “there is no way I am going to make that decision this minute. Furthermore, I won’t make any decision at all until you call the Royals and give them the opportunity to make a counteroffer. If they can come close, then I’d like to stay in Kansas City. Money isn’t the only consideration.”[8]

Knisley reached out to the Royals, but their offer fell $1.5 million short.[9] Though Porter wouldn’t sign his contract until the following week, he was headed to the Cardinals.

It soon became clear that Porter was merely the first domino to fall in Herzog’s plan to remake the Cardinals. With Porter in the fold, Herzog announced his plans to move Ted Simmons to first base and move Gold Glove first baseman Keith Hernandez to left field.

“I would think I’ll be playing a lot of first base and it’ll be just fine for me, but I don’t know if it will be just fine for Keith,” Simmons told Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “You’re taking a Gold Glove and putting him somewhere where he might not win another one. I don’t think that makes our club that much better defensively and I would think it would have a reverse effect. Keith is a much better first baseman than he is a left fielder. You take your Gold Glove and put him in the outfield … you’ve done something that, I’m sure, you really would rather not have to do.”^[10]

Ken Reitz, who was considering whether to accept a trade that would send him to the Cubs for Bruce Sutter, also criticized the move.

“The Porter deal stinks,” he said. “I’m changing my attitude. I’ve begun to think of other clubs.”^[11]

Herzog, however, argued that Porter represented such an upgrade at catcher that it made up for the downgrade at first base.

“Don’t you think our defense will be better off with Porter behind the plate?” Herzog said. “When I got fired from Kansas City, he was the best catcher in baseball.”[12]

Meanwhile, Herzog continued to wheel and deal. On December 8, he traded catching prospect Terry Kennedy along with John Littlefield, Al Olmsted, Mike Phillips, Kim Seaman, Steve Swisher, and John Urrea to the Padres for Rollie Fingers, Bob Shirley, and Gene Tenace (Bob Geren would be sent to St. Louis two days later to complete the trade).

On December 9, Reitz agreed to go to Chicago in the trade that brought Sutter to St. Louis in exchange for Reitz, outfielder Leon Durham, and a player to be named later.

As Herzog made his moves, Simmons reconsidered his move to first base. On the same day the Cardinals acquired one future Hall of Famer in Sutter, another player bound for Cooperstown, Simmons, requested that he be traded.

“In truth, Simmons, though he didn’t say so, has been hurt by Herzog’s decision after 11 years of productive service,” Hummel wrote. “His understanding of playing first base was that he would play it once in a while, as derived from a conversation with Herzog at the end of last season. Upon considering the Porter situation, he has decided that he does not want to play it every day.”^[13]

On December 12, Herzog traded Fingers, Simmons, and Pete Vuckovich to the Brewers for outfielders David Green and Sixto Lezcano and pitchers Dave LaPoint and Lary Sorensen.

The trade was not popular in St. Louis, where Simmons was affectionately known as “Simba” and had been the Cardinals’ best player throughout much of the 1970s.

“He wanted the trade,” Herzog said. “I hope the fans don’t think that because of Darrell Porter, we don’t have Ted Simmons.”^[14]

Herzog’s pleas fell on deaf ears.

“From day one, a few of the Cardinals fans (it seemed like the whole stadium) took an instant dislike to me,” Porter wrote in 1984. “As we got into the season, I began to look forward to the road trips – I actually got less abuse from opposing fans than I did from the hometown crowd. And my playing was much better on the road.”[15]

A torn rotator cuff limited Porter to just 61 games that season. When he returned in 1982, Porter hit .231 with 12 homers and 48 RBIs. Along the way, Herzog realized that Porter was no longer the player he had coached in Kansas City.

In 1999, Herzog recounted an instance in which Porter’s competitive fire seemed to be gone.

“One day he struck out four times on 14 pitches and never took the bat off his shoulder,” he wrote. “Guys are going to get the collar once in a while, but man, there are limits. ‘Darrell,’ I said, ‘what the hell are you thinking? Are you prepared? What are you waitin’ for?’ He gave me kind of a dreamy smile, shrugged, and said, ‘Oh well, the Lord will take care of it.’ I said, ‘Darrell, maybe the Lord knows all, but He ain’t gonna get you any base hits. Swing the bat!’”[16]

Porter did exactly that in the 1982 playoffs. After going 5-for-9 with three doubles to win NLCS MVP honors, he went 8-for-28 (.286) with two doubles, a home run, and five RBIs to win World Series MVP honors as well.

Porter played five seasons in St. Louis, batting .237/.347/.402 over that span with 54 home runs and 249 RBIs. Following the 1985 season, Porter signed with the Rangers, where he played the final two seasons of his career.

Enjoy this post? Find similar stories listed by decade or by player.

[1] Associated Press, “Porter Agrees To Sign 5-Year Pact With Cards,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 7, 1980.

[2] Associated Press, “Porter Agrees To Sign 5-Year Pact With Cards,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 7, 1980.

[3] Doug Tucker, “Porter decides to make good on his 1979 vow, after all,” Kansas City Star, December 8, 1980.

[4] Mike McKenzie, “Herzog’s style, money and influence made Porter a Cardinal,” Kansas City Times, December 8, 1980.

[5] Associated Press, “Porter Agrees To Sign 5-Year Pact With Cards,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 7, 1980.

[6] Darrell Porter with William Deerfield (1984), Snap Me Perfect! The Darrell Porter Story, Thomas Nelson Publishers, New York, N.Y., Page 233.

[7] Mike McKenzie, “Herzog’s style, money and influence made Porter a Cardinal,” Kansas City Times, December 8, 1980.

[8] Darrell Porter with William Deerfield (1984), Snap Me Perfect! The Darrell Porter Story, Thomas Nelson Publishers, New York, N.Y., Page 233.

[9] Darrell Porter with William Deerfield (1984), Snap Me Perfect! The Darrell Porter Story, Thomas Nelson Publishers, New York, N.Y., Page 233.

[10] Rick Hummel, “Simmons Calls Move To First Base ‘Just Fine,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 8, 1980.

[11] Doug Tucker, “Porter decides to make good on his 1979 vow, after all,” Kansas City Star, December 8, 1980.

[12] Rick Hummel, “Simmons Calls Move To First Base ‘Just Fine,’” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 8, 1980.

[13] Rick Hummel, “Agent Will Ask Birds To Deal Slighted Simmons,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 9, 1980.

[14] Ed Wilks, “Herzog Defends Deal That Dispatched Simmons,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, December 14, 1980.

[15] Darrell Porter with William Deerfield (1984), Snap Me Perfect! The Darrell Porter Story, Thomas Nelson Publishers, New York, N.Y., Page 236-237.

[16] Whitey Herzog and Jonathan Pitts (1999), You’re Missin’ a Great Game: From Casey to Ozzie, the Magic of Baseball and How to Get It Back, New York; Berkley Books, Page 172.

The post Whitey Herzog begins 1980 roster rebuild with Darrell Porter first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

That season, the 40-year-old Kaline had reached the milestone in the final campaign of his career, the same year that Brock set a major league record with 118 stolen bases.

“I’d met Al on the banquet circuit that winter and congratulated him,” Brock said. “He told me, ‘I think you can do it too,’ and I looked it up. Pete Rose was doing a lot of talking – early – about getting to 3,000, averaging 195 hits a year, as I recall, and I looked up my own figures and saw where I’d had 191 for an average.”[1]

On August 13, 1979, Brock, now 40 years old himself, was just two hits shy of 3,000 entering that night’s game against his former team, the Cubs. Just one year earlier, Brock slumped early in the season and lost his starting job in left field. His batting average fell to a career-low .221 as he appeared in just 92 games.

In April, Brock announced that 1979 would be his final season, but instead of quietly fading away in the year that followed, Brock returned to form. After a teammate pointed out late in 1978 that he was hitting off his back foot,[2] Brock made an adjustment and not only regained his starting job in 1979 but even earned a trip to the all-star game. He was batting .321 and already had 10 hits in the Cardinals’ eight games that month.

“What he’s going through is a lesson to all of us,” rookie Cardinals pitcher John Fulgham said. “Not many guys can go through something the magnitude of this. Think of all the great athletes and what they did. Hank Aaron only went through it once. Willie Mays only went through it once, but Lou’s gone through it three times (counting his career and single-season stolen base records) and the guy hasn’t changed a bit. He’s something. I’m glad to be a part of this scene.”[3]

So were the 44,457 fans at Busch Stadium that night, including approximately 20,000 who purchased their tickets that day to see Brock pursue history.[4] The game was delayed 15 minutes to accommodate the late rush for tickets.[5]

“That’s an amazing thing about Lou, there’s no difference in him,” first baseman Keith Hernandez said. “Absolutely no difference. He’s so even-keel you’d never know what was at stake.”[6]

Brock got hit number 2,999 against Cubs starter Dennis Lamp in the first inning. Garry Templeton led off the bottom of the first with a single before Brock hit a line drive into left field. With runners on first and third, Hernandez grounded into a double play that scored Templeton and gave the Cardinals an early lead.

The score was still 1-0 when Brock led off the fourth. Lamp got ahead in the count 0-2, missed with a pitch off the plate, then came high and inside with a brushback pitch that knocked Brock to the dirt.

“It kind of jarred me back to reality,” Brock said of the pitch. “After that, it made me realize that I wasn’t concentrating as much as I had to.”[7]

On a 2-2 count, Brock lined Lamp’s pitch – a low curveball – back up the middle. It appeared destined for center field until the 6-foot-4 Lamp reached out with his pitching hand and deflected the ball, sending it toward third base for an infield single.

With his second hit of the day, Brock became just the 14^th player in major league history to reach 3,000.

“I waited 19 years for this moment,” he said. “It couldn’t have come at a better time because both hits were instrumental in a team victory. I’d hoped it would happen this way.”[8]

With the milestone, Brock joined Ty Cobb, Aaron, Stan Musial, Tris Speaker, Honus Wagner, Eddie Collins, Rose, Mays, Nap Lajoie, Paul Waner, Cap Anson, Kaline, and Roberto Clemente. As the injured Lamp was led away, Brock teammates and photographers surrounded Brock to celebrate the milestone. Musial, who also had collected his 3,000^th career hit against the Cubs in 1958, stepped onto the field alongside owner August A. Busch Jr. to congratulate Brock.

“You look at Lou’s career and you envy it. I do. I think most players do,” said Ted Simmons, a future Hall of Famer in his own right. “I’ve enjoyed every ballgame I’ve ever played with him. What he’s done has been remarkable. It’s sad to think of him retiring, but it’s nice to see him going out on the right end of the game. There are too many players who don’t.”[9] 

Despite the milestone, there was still a game to be played. Doug Capilla entered the game in place of Lamp and got Hernandez to ground the ball to Cubs first baseman Bill Buckner, who threw Brock out at second base. With Simmons at the plate, Hernandez advanced to second on an error, then scored when George Hendrick singled into center field.

Pete Vuckovich held the Cubs scoreless through the first six innings. Chicago got on the scoreboard with back-to-back doubles by Steve Dillard and Larry Biittner to lead off the seventh inning. After Ivan de Jesus singled, Vuckovich was replaced with Will McEnaney. Pinch hitter Mike Vail lined out to left field to score Bittner and tie the game 2-2.

The game remained deadlocked until the bottom of the ninth. With one out, Ken Reitz singled for the 1,000^th hit of his career and was replaced by pinch-runner Tom Herr. Cubs reliever Willie Hernandez hit the Cardinals’ next batter, Ken Oberkfell. With runners on first and second, Chicago called upon its stopper, Bruce Sutter, while Cardinals manager Ken Boyer called upon Dane Iorg to bat for relief pitcher Mark Littell, who had thrown scoreless eighth and ninth innings.

Iorg singled to load the bases, and with one out, Templeton lifted a fly ball into left field that scored Herr and sent the Busch Stadium crowd home happy.

Nonetheless, even a walk-off win wasn’t enough to turn the attention away from Brock’s 3,000^th hit and his legacy as one of baseball’s all-time great players – and great people.

“Nothing surprises me about Lou,” pitcher Bob Forsch said. “He plays with incredible intensity, but there have been a lot of great baseball players. The thing I’ll remember most about Lou is how helpful he’s always been. I know he made me feel welcome, and I’ve seen him do the same with other players.

“I’ll never forget seeing him take Jimmy Dwyer out into left field a couple of years ago. He was showing him how to play the bounce off the wet turf. This was another guy they were bringing up to take Lou’s position, and he was out there helping him. But I guess a lot of guys were supposed to take his job at one time or another. He’s still out there though, isn’t he?”[10]

Indeed, Brock appeared in 120 games that season on his way to comeback player of the year honors. With 123 hits on the year, he finished with a .304 batting average.

As promised, Brock retired after the season with 3,023 hits, 938 stolen bases, and a career .293 batting average. A six-time all-star, Brock was at his best in the postseason, batting .391 (34-for-92) with four homers, 13 RBIs, and 14 stolen bases in 21 World Series games. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1985.

Enjoy this post? Get Cardinals history delivered straight to your inbox!

[1] Bob Broeg, “Brock Saw 3,000 As Symbolic Legacy,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 14, 1979.

[2] Rick Hummel, “Brock’s 3^rd Jewel Is Winner For Cards,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 14, 1979.

[3] Rick Hummel, “Brock’s 3^rd Jewel Is Winner For Cards,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 14, 1979.

[4] Tom Barnidge, “When The Moment Arrived, It Seemed Time Stood Still,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 14, 1979.

[5] Rick Hummel, “Brock’s 3^rd Jewel Is Winner For Cards,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 14, 1979.

[6] Tom Barnidge, “When The Moment Arrived, It Seemed Time Stood Still,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 14, 1979.

[7] Rick Hummel, “Brock’s 3^rd Jewel Is Winner For Cards,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 14, 1979.

[8] Bob Logan, “Brock 19-year wait ends in glory,” Chicago Tribune, August 14, 1979.

[9] Tom Barnidge, “When The Moment Arrived, It Seemed Time Stood Still,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 14, 1979.

[10] Tom Barnidge, “When The Moment Arrived, It Seemed Time Stood Still,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 14, 1979.

The post August 13, 1979: Lou Brock collects his 3,000th career hit in resurgent final season first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

After hitting an eighth-inning triple to move within a single of the cycle, Torre asked Schoendienst to remove him from the game. Sensing that Torre – slated to bat fifth in the ninth inning – still had an opportunity at history, Schoendienst kept his first baseman in the lineup.

“I told him he might get another shot,” Schoendienst said. “I told him to stay in there.”[1]

It proved to be the right decision.

“You have to give Red an assist,” Torre said. “I’m glad he ignored me this time.”[2]

Torre’s cycle paced a 22-hit offensive attack in the Cardinals’ 15-4 victory over the defending National League champion Pirates at Three Rivers Stadium.

The first Pittsburgh pitcher to fall victim to the St. Louis bats was 30-year-old left-hander Jim Rooker, who was making his first start of the season after thriving in a relief role. Rooker went on to win 10 games that season, the first of five consecutive campaigns with double-digit win totals. This game, however, would not count toward the win column.

The first four Cardinals batters each pounded hits as Lou Brock and Ted Sizemore singled, Torre hit an RBI double off the wall, and Ted Simmons followed with a two-run double to give St. Louis a 3-0 lead.

Willie Stargell hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first off Cardinals starting pitcher Reggie Cleveland to cut the lead to 3-1, but the Cardinals broke the game open in the third as Torre and Simmons each hit solo home runs. After Ken Reitz singled and Bill Stein doubled, the Pirates inserted another left-hander, Luke Walker.

Walker didn’t fare any better. Jose Cruz and Mike Tyson greeted him with consecutive RBI singles. Another run scored on a Pirates error, and Tyson scored on a wild pitch before the inning ended with the Cardinals ahead 9-1.

With a double and a home run under his belt, Torre opened the fourth inning with a triple off Pittsburgh right-hander Bob Johnson. Batting next, Simmons drove Torre home with a sacrifice fly to right field.

“I didn’t think I’d ever hit for the cycle because I’m not a triples hitter,” Torre said.[3]

Brock added an RBI single in the seventh before Torre came up again in the eighth. Facing Steve Blass, Torre walked on five pitches, and it looked as though he might fall short in his bid for the cycle.

However, after Blass retired the first two batters he faced in the ninth, he walked Cleveland and Bernie Carbo to bring Torre to the plate. On a 3-1 pitch, Torre rose to the occasion with a single up the middle to score Carbo and complete the cycle. He clapped his hands in celebration on his way to first base.[4]

“I was pressing like crazy for the single,” he said.[5]

Simmons followed with an RBI double, and Reitz added a two-run single to make the final score 15-4.

In addition to Torre’s four hits, three RBIs, and four runs scored, Reitz finished the day with four hits and two RBIs. Simmons went 3-for-4 with two doubles and five RBIs, and Brock and Cruz each had three hits. Every player in the starting lineup had a hit, and the Cardinals finished with nine extra-base hits – six doubles, Torre’s triple, and two home runs.

“The trick tonight was figuring out who hit the game-winning RBI,” said Tim McCarver, who sat while Simmons handled the catching duties. “That’d take a mathematician, wouldn’t it?”[6]

With the loss, the last-place Pirates fell to 31-39 on the season.

“If it has been unfair before now to refer to Pirate pitching as a travesty, the ban is henceforth lifted,” Jeff Samuels wrote in The Pittsburgh Press.[7]

“Do I have any ideas how to straighten things out?” Pirates manager Bill Virdon asked in response to a reporter’s question. “I don’t know what the hell they would be. What do you do with pitching like this? You just keep running ’em out there.”[8]

Cleveland pitched all nine innings for the Cardinals, allowing four earned runs on seven hits and two walks. He struck out five.

Torre was named to his ninth and final All-Star Game that summer and finished the year with a .287 batting average, 13 homers, and 69 RBIs. Following the 1974 season, the Brooklyn native was traded to the Mets for Tommy Moore and Ray Sadecki and played his final three seasons in New York. Torre retired with a career .297 batting average, totaling 252 home runs, 996 runs scored, and 1,185 RBIs before embarking on a managerial career that brought him back to St. Louis from 1990 until 1995.

Give the gift of Cardinals history! The Trades That Made The St. Louis Cardinals is available now on Amazon!

[1] Jeff Samuels, “Bucs Lambasted, 15-4,” The Pittsburgh Press, June 28, 1973.

[2] Neal Russo, “Torre’s Cycle Powers Cards,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 28, 1973.

[3] Neal Russo, “Torre’s Cycle Powers Cards,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 28, 1973.

[4] Jeff Samuels, “Bucs Lambasted, 15-4,” The Pittsburgh Press, June 28, 1973.

[5] Neal Russo, “Torre’s Cycle Powers Cards,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 28, 1973.

[6] Charley Feeney, “Cards Stagger Limp Bucs, 15-4,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 28, 1973.

[7] Jeff Samuels, “Bucs Lambasted, 15-4,” The Pittsburgh Press, June 28, 1973.

[8] Jeff Samuels, “Bucs Lambasted, 15-4,” The Pittsburgh Press, June 28, 1973.

The post Joe Torre hits for the cycle: June 27, 1973 first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.

At Creighton University, Gibson once pitched a no-hitter into the sixth inning before the manager moved him to center field for the remainder of the game.[2] He recalled coming within one out of a no-hitter while pitching for the Cardinals’ Triple-A affiliate in Rochester in 1958, and had thrown one-hitters against the Philadelphia Phillies in 1965 and the San Diego Padres in 1970.

But by 1971, his third decade in the majors, Gibson had yet to throw a complete-game no-hitter. He and third baseman Joe Torre even joked about it half an hour before the start of the game, though the newspaper accounts of the conversation differed slightly.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Gibson jokingly told third baseman Joe Torre, “I think I’ll throw a no-hitter.”

“Naw,” Torre replied. “You throw too many pitches.”[3]

The wire services reported that when Gibson told Torre, “I might pitch a no-hitter,” he reconsidered and said, “Nah, I don’t want to do it. It takes too many pitches.”[4]

Catcher Ted Simmons, however, was ready to believe.

“Just two nights ago, when we were eating, I said Gibson would pitch a no-hitter Saturday,” he said. “Go ask Chris Zachary if I’m not right. He was there too.”

Zachary confirmed Simmons’ tale with a nod.[5]

Meanwhile, there was no doubt that Pirates slugger Willie Stargell, who accounted for three of Gibson’s 10 strikeouts, including the final out of the ninth inning, was a believer.

“All those people who said that Gibson was washed up should have had to bat against him tonight,” he said.[6]

The Cardinals made sure that Gibson had a comfortable cushion before he even threw a pitch. After Matty Alou walked and Jose Cruz singled, Torre and Simmons hit back-to-back RBI singles. Right fielder Joe Hague followed with a three-run home run to center field that made it 5-0.

In the second inning, Gibson struck out May but the ball got past Simmons for a wild pitch, allowing May to reach first. Gibson then struck out Bob Robertson for his third strikeout of the inning, then got Bill Mazeroski to hit a foul pop fly into Alou’s glove at first base.

“Don’t ask me how fast he was,” Mazeroski said, “because I didn’t see a fastball all night. He gave me sliders, good sliders on the outside of the plate. I broke two bats the first two times up.”[7]

Gibson walked Jackie Hernandez to lead off the third before retiring the side in order, and issued a one-out walk to Stargell in the fourth. He then retired the next 10 batters, including May on a deep fly ball that forced Cruz to make a running, one-handed grab at the warning track.

“When I hit it, I thought it was going out,” May said. “I’ve only got one left-field homer in this park, and I thought the ball I hit tonight was harder than that one.”[8]

Gibson said, “It was a high fly ball, and I knew if it came down Cruz would catch it. If it didn’t come down, it was going out of the park. Somehow I always felt it was going to come down, though.”[9]

That play didn’t worry Gibson as much as a high chopper in the eighth inning off the bat of Dave Cash. Torre was playing in at third to defend against the bunt and Torre had to leap to keep the ball from bouncing into the outfield.

“That was the only play that really scared me,” Gibson said.[10]

Meanwhile, the Cardinals’ lineup continued to build its lead. In the fifth inning, Ted Kubiak hit a bases-loaded double that scored Torre and Simmons. Gibson hit a sacrifice fly into right field that made the score 8-0.

In the top of the eighth, Cardinals shortstop Dal Maxvill drew a bases-loaded walk and Gibson hit a two-run single to make the score 11-0.

At that point, the only drama lay in whether Gibson could complete his bid for a no-hitter.

In the ninth, Gibson got Vic Davalillo to hit a ground ball to Maxvill at shortstop and Al Oliver to ground out to Kubiak at second base.

“Gibson threw the ball by me all four times at bat,” Oliver said. “He’s the first guy who has ever overpowered me. I just couldn’t get the bat around.”[11]

With two outs and Stargell at the plate, Gibson went to his slider for his 124^th pitch of the game. Home plate umpire Harry Wendelstedt called it a strike for Gibson’s 10^th strikeout of the day.

“I was looking for a fastball and then that slider cut over the plate at the last instant,” Stargell said.[12]

“That last pitch to Stargell exploded,” Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst said.[13]

It was Gibson’s 201^st win and the 48^th shutout of his career. Though the Pirates had four baserunners, none advanced past first base.

With the win, Gibson improved to 11-10 on the season and lowered his ERA to 3.22. It had been a challenging, injury-prone season for the veteran right-hander, including a three-week stint on the disabled list in June due to a torn thigh muscle.[14]

“This thrilled me, it really did,” Gibson said. “After it was over, I felt like we’d won the seventh game of the World Series.”[15]

It was an equal thrill for Simmons, who went 4-for-6 with a double and three runs scored, improving his batting average for the season to .314.

“That was the greatest thrill of my life, catching a no-hitter,” Simmons said. “Man, he was throwing fire.”[16]

Torre went 4-for-6 and drove in his 95^th RBI, increasing his batting average to .360. Ted Sizemore, Hague, and Kubiak each added two hits. Despite a banner day for the offense, they were happy to hand the spotlight to Gibson.

“You keep looking up at that big scoreboard and see they don’t have any hits,” said Gibson, who admitted he was aware of the no-hit bid throughout the game.

“In the last two innings, I was bearing down extra hard. I was trying not to make bad pitches. Even when I was getting behind in the count, I was being careful not to groove the ball. I was throwing sliders and curves with the count 3 and 2.”[17]

After the reporters had asked all their postgame interviews, the 35-year-old Gibson offered high praise for his performance.

“This was the greatest game I’ve ever pitched anywhere,” he said.[18]

[1] Neal Russo, “Gibson Fires First No-Hitter,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 15, 1971: B1.

[2] Neal Russo, “Gibson Fires First No-Hitter,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 15, 1971: B1.

[3] Neal Russo, “Gibson Fires First No-Hitter,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 15, 1971: B6.

[4] Wire Services, “Bob Gibson No-Hits Bucs in ‘Best Game,’ Philadelphia Inquirer, August 15, 1971: Section 3, Page 1.

[5] Neal Russo, “Gibson Fires First No-Hitter,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 15, 1971: B6.

[6] Neal Russo, “Gibson Fires First No-Hitter,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 15, 1971: B1.

[7] Wire Services, “Bob Gibson No-Hits Bucs in ‘Best Game,’ Philadelphia Inquirer, August 15, 1971: Section 3, Page 1.

[8] “Bucs Scared Gibson In 8^th,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 15, 1971: B1.

[9] “Bucs Scared Gibson In 8^th,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 15, 1971: B1.

[10] “Bucs Scared Gibson In 8^th,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 15, 1971: B1.

[11] Neal Russo, “Gibson’s Reward: A Party,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 16, 1971: C3.

[12] Neal Russo, “Gibson Fires First No-Hitter,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 15, 1971: B6.

[13] Neal Russo, “Gibson Fires First No-Hitter,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 15, 1971: B1.

[14] “Bucs Scared Gibson In 8^th,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 15, 1971: B6.

[15] “Bucs Scared Gibson In 8^th,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 15, 1971: B1.

[16] Neal Russo, “Gibson Fires First No-Hitter,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 15, 1971: B1.

[17] Neal Russo, “Gibson Fires First No-Hitter,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 15, 1971: B1.

[18] Neal Russo, “Gibson Fires First No-Hitter,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 15, 1971: B6.

The post Bob Gibson throws his only career no-hitter: August 14, 1971 first appeared on STLRedbirds.com.